2015- Azores Review

A few personal highlights from the Azores in 2015

WINTER 

Did a winter gull watching trip to collect some more information on Azores Gulls and have a look for vagrants: MORE HERE

 Glaucous Gull

 Ring-billed Gull

 Presumed adult American Herring Gull 

 Chris, Peter and Darryl

NATURAL HISTORY TOUR 2015

We did our first AZORES NATURE Natural History Trip. Here's a few highlights:

 MORE HERE

 Barolo's Shearwater

 Monteiro's Petrel

 Cory's Shearwater

 Fin Whale

 Azores Chaffinch- one of several endemic local races of birds

 Serra de Santa Barbara, Terceira.

 The 2015 group

2015 PELAGIC

Rich Bonser led the annual pelagic to the Bank of Fortune on Graciosa. Rough seas meant it was a difficult year but the group still scored Swinhoe's Petrel, Sooty Tern and Monteiro's Petrel. MORE HERE

Swinhoe's Petrel from 2012. 

 BIRD REPORT AND BIRD FAIR

 We published the 2nd Rare Bird Report MORE HERE

Friends ART won the best tourism stand at the Bird Fair 

CORVO AUTUMN 2015

A vintage year.  For more check out all the birding periodicals and journals. 

 Blue-winged Warbler 

 False Killer Whales (photo by Vincent Legrand) 

 Blackpoll

 Two Blackpolls

 Eastern Wood Pewee- two birds on Corvo

 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks

NEXT YEAR 2016

Looking forward to another great year. There's two organised trips and the usual autumn gathering on Corvo/Flores. 

If interested in either the 2016 Pelagic or the Natural History Tour please email me littleoakgroup@btinternet.com

Special thanks to all friends and partners on the Azores:  Ian at Archipelago Choice, The Azores Tourist Board, Anna and Sofia from ART, Kathy!! at the Commodore Guesthouse Corvo , Rolando from DivingGraciosa, GerbyBirding, The SPEA guys,The Birding Azores Team and of course all the Azores Birders and team mates. 

Gulls and the obs

First-winter Caspian Gull

Looks like a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull (only got this shot). Also had the Iceland today. 

A view from the obs

Spent the afternoon setting up a music studio in the obs loft

New Directions, Birdwatch January 2016

My article in the January issue of Birdwatch.

BIRDWATCH

Iceland Gull, Med Gull and Marsh Harrier

Not a bad little afternoon at the farmlands with Kojak.

2015- Beddington Farmlands Review

A few personal highlights from 2015 at Beddington Farmlands:

BIRDING HIGHLIGHTS

 Displaying Teals in January

 Bullfinches in the nets in January 

 A wintering Garganey!

 A steady raptor passage in spring including this interesting (very) pale morph Common Buzzard

 3 Ring Ouzels in one tree during an exciting fall of migrants in April  

 Stone Curlew found by Glenn Jones. The first site record since 1982. My 216th bird species for the site.

 Northern Wheatear- overall a pretty good passage of summer migrants 

 Some great successes in the breeding season with three pairs of Mute Swans....

  Breeding Shelducks

 The best year on record for Tufted Ducks

 The first successful breeding of Great Crested Grebe 

 Peregrines bred locally and the young were seen feeding over the farmlands

The autumn migration is heralded by the arrival of Green Sandpipers 

Spotted Flycatcher- a good showing this autumn

 Little Owl 

 Dartford Warbler- a classic late autumn local scarce migrant 

 Serin! A first for the farmlands- the 257th species for the farmlands 

 Iceland Gull in December 

BUGGING AND OTHER WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS 

 Oak Beauty- a site first in March

 Dotted Chestnut- a site first in April

 Neoascia interrupta- a new hoverfly for the site. We've now got a local list of 61 hoverfly species. 

 Cowslips- have colonised the Southern Mound 

 Leucozona lucorum - another new hoverfly species

 Orellia falcata- a site first

 Vestal- a new species for the farmlands

 Bordered Sallow- a first for the site

 Hornet Moths- in Hackbridge in summer

CONSERVATION

Maintenance works were carried out to the lakes in January 

  

 Ploughing of the mounds in spring for seeding of new restoration habitats 

 Additional tree planting 

  New entrance under construction 

 New entrance finished. Excellent work coordinated by local company Bioregional. 

 The Bird group Wildlfower meadow 

  Regular bird and wildlife walks 

 Rain gardens in Hackbridge near the farmlands entrance- all part of the integration of the local urban area to the reserve and the wider Wandle Valley Regional park 

 Wildflower strips on the road sides in Hackbridge 

Wildlife Gardening in town

   Great work by Alan and the Church Ground's Project- another local village biodiversity project  

 Even producing food in the local green spaces- this crop from Silverdale Estate

The 2014 Bird and Wildlife Report ready by early autumn. For more details on Beddington Farmlands see the annual reports and web spaces. 

BEDDINGTON FARMLANDS WEBSITE

BEDDINGTON FARMLANDS FACEBOOK

BEDDINGTON FARM BIRD GROUP

and here's the latest on the on going incinerator issue which is due to escalate in 2016: Holy Smoke and Sian Berry takes on fight